"In Defense of Academic History Writing"

Last week at work friend and colleague Stuart Sanders shared an article with me that I would in turn like to share with you. The article, "In Defense of Academic History Writing," was written by the acclaimed early American historian Gordon Wood and appeared in Perspectives on History.

I won't attempt to summarize the relatively short article, rather I will leave it to you to read and make the decision whether you agree or disagree. I will say that I heartily agree with Wood's assessment. Personally, I thoroughly enjoy reading academic, or as he calls it, "analytic" history. The research and thus gained understanding of the past that academic historians have provided over the past 60 years or so is amazing. Their contributions to history, whether widely read or not, have advanced the field and our knowledge.

The article can be accessed via the following link:
http://www.historians.org/Perspectives/issues/2010/1004/1004art1.cfm